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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the purpose of Poem One?

2. What ties Poems Two, Three, Four, and Five in Sequence One together?

3. Which one of these folk songs does the cast of the play sing in Poem One?

4. What game do the characters play at the end of the play?

5. In Poem One, which character says, "and this is for colored girls who have considered suicide/but moved to the end of their own rainbows"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the playwright bring universality to the script in Poem One?

2. Describe Poem Nine.

3. According to the stage directions, how does Sequence Four end?

4. What links Poems Six and Seven together?

5. Describe the language and imagery in Poem Two.

6. What happened to the main character's "stuff" in Poem Seventeen?

7. Describe Poem Four.

8. What theme(s) are evident in Poem One and what is the meaning of this theme?

9. What contrasts are made in Poem Fifteen?

10. How is dance used in Poem Two?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the significance of the songs and music in the play? Why do you think the author chose these particular songs? Please use examples from the book to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Is For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf a feminist work? Why or Why not? Please use specific examples from the book.

Essay Topic 3

Why does Shange choose not to name the characters? What is the significance of not naming the characters? How would naming the characters change the dynamics of the play? Please use examples from the book to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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